As the world wonders if President Trump will stick to his threat of bombing power plants and bridges if Iran doesn’t come to the peace talks, crude oil prices dropped again on Monday and finished in the $80 and $90 range.
There has been increased optimism in recent days following the ceasefire but the tensions remain high over the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian ship after firring at it and knocked its engine out of commission.
Brent crude fell 9.1% on Monday and settled at $90.38 per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate dropped 11.5% to finish at $83.85 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Strait of Hormuz, as of Monday, remained closed and an estimated 600 million barrels of oil were stranded in the Strait.
The ceasefire will expire Wednesday and President Trump urged Iran to return to the peace talks in Pakistan, writing on Truth Social, “We’re offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” adding, “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done”.
Natural gas prices recorded a slight gain, settling at $2.689 MMBtu with an increase of $0.015 or 0.56%.
A near split was recorded Monday by Oklahoma energy stocks. A more than 13% gain was reported for USA Rare Earth and Mammoth Energy Services fell more than 6%.